Astrophysics (Index)About

Triton

(Neptune I)
(Neptune's one significant moon)

Triton (Neptune I) is Neptune's largest moon, much larger than Neptune's other moons, and for a long time, Neptune's only known moon. Its radius is 840 miles, about 1/5 Earth radius, and its mass is on the order of 1/275 of Earth's. Cryovolcanism has been detected on it. Triton is in a retrograde orbit and because of this as well as its Pluto-like composition, it is thought to be a captured dwarf planet. Recent study of such captures suggest Triton might have previously been a minor planet with a binary companion: simulations show captures involving just two bodies require very particular circumstances, but three-body interactions involving a binary object with a third object can more easily result in such an exchange. Triton has been observed in just a single flyby, by Voyager 2 in 1989. Among its discoveries were dark plumes emitted from the surface, which remain a mystery.


(moon,Neptune)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triton_(moon)
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/neptune-moons/triton/in-depth/
https://sos.noaa.gov/catalog/datasets/triton-neptunes-moon/
https://www.planetary.org/worlds/triton
RedshiftParsecs
/Distance
Lightyears
/Lookback Years
  
~029AU~0lynearestTriton
~031AU~0lyfurthestTriton

Referenced by pages:
cryovolcano
irregular moon
moon
Moon formation
Neptune
retrograde orbit

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